Woodcuts on a platen

Depending on the size of the cut, it might be difficult on a platen press. Image is transferred by pounds per square inch. With a platen press, the whole image is transferred (printed) at the same time, requiring tremendous pressure. On a cylinder press like a Vandercook, only a fraction of the image is printed, abut 1/16th of an inch running the width of the cylinder allowing for much greater pressure and better ink transfer. I guess what i am trying to sa is… small wood cuts can be printed on a platen.

I print all my wood-cuts on a Golding Platen Press (which I hear are similar to sigwalts), but they are no bigger than 4 x 6 inches in a 6 x 9 in chase. I use blocks that I’ve got from McClain’s printing mailorder co. that are less than half an inch tall, so I build up on same size block to be close to typehigh. I need to use a lot more ink when printing than type, and I NEVER print type and woodblock at the same time. I do better with lined art than huge spaces. Smoother paper prints easier than bumpy papers. Feel free to look at my website to see my results: www.redbatpress.com. One thing I’ve learned is to never cut a wood-cut on both sides of the wood, it is very hard to print evenly when the underside is not flat. Any other questions please contact me.

-Carye